Trees are the main source of oxygen we have, and with continued deforestation, soon we’re going to have to rely on algae for oxygen production, and that’s a bleak way to look at the future.
By law, lumber companies are required to plant up to 3 trees for every single one they chop down, but this isn’t something all of these companies respect, and more often than not, you’re bound to see entire forests cut down without a care in the world.
At this rate, we’re looking at only a few decades more with sufficient oxygen supply, and considering our population is only growing, fresh air will become a luxury by then.
Because of this, planting trees has become a regular activity for the eco-friendly crowd, and they’ve offset the impact of deforestation by a margin with their actions.
Make sure you’re on the right side of history when it really matters.
Why are trees important
There’s no simpler way to put it other than the fact that the earth won’t be able to survive without trees.
Naturally, this doesn’t mean that a single tree remaining will be able to restore the planet to its lush landscape, and we’re going to experience the effects of deforestation sooner or later.
In fact, you may not have been able to notice it, but air quality has deteriorated significantly over the past 50 years, and the excessive use of wood is to blame.
Organizations around the globe are constantly on the case, and they’ve created a number of campaigns to put an end to deforestation, with mixed results.
That being said, every effort counts, and even if we can’t completely prevent forests from being cut down, we can make our own contributions to the tree population of our planet.
Planting trees
Apart from offering oxygen and filtering carbon dioxide, trees have more than one purpose, as they create shade, prevent landslides and even create living arrangements for hundreds of small animals.
Without trees, birds wouldn’t have a safe place to create their nests in, exposing them to predators and inadvertently causing a great imbalance in this incredibly balanced ecosystem.
On top of this, trees help cleanse the air around us, and it’s why so many urban areas have parks and treelines surrounding them, as it helps reduce the negative effects of gas emissions from vehicles and other pollutants.
Planting a single tree in your garden is enough to say you’ve contributed, and if you’ve got greater plots of unused land, planting hundreds of trees could potentially change the landscape of said area for decades to come, making the air cleaner and allowing animals to repopulate it once again.
The benefits
Oftentimes, we forget just how beneficial trees can be.
One of the main reasons urban areas are filled with trees is the fact that they absorb sound and reduce noise levels in areas where traffic is a major problem.
With strategic planting of trees, city planners can create peace in places where traffic noise would make it unbearable to live in, and that can mean a lot in a multi-million city like New York or Los Angeles.
If that wasn’t enough, trees store all the carbon they absorb inside of them, reducing the amount of carbon that gets shot out into the atmosphere by the many vehicles on the road.
Essentially, trees are reducing humanity’s carbon footprint without us even knowing it, and if it weren’t for the dense forests and wooded areas surrounding our cities, the environment would’ve suffered much more than it already did.
How to contribute
Even if you don’t have land of your own to plant trees on, there’s nothing stopping you from planting them elsewhere, more specifically, in areas that once had plenty of trees.
This will require quite a bit of effort on your part, but if you consider the positive effects of your actions, you’ll soon understand that it was all worth your while.
Even if you dedicate an entire day to just planting trees, you can’t ever say it was a day wasted, as you directly contributed to saving this planet from humanity’s own negative influence.
If doing things on your own is not quite your style, you could also just make contributions to companies that plant trees instead, and while you won’t be getting the satisfaction of doing it yourself, you’ll still be contributing to a great cause.
There are hundreds of eco-friendly companies out there that will plant a tree for every dollar you donate, and if you’re feeling generous, you alone could make sure that hundreds of trees are planted in your name.
Trees live much longer than humans do, and knowing you’ve helped hundreds of them grow is something that’s much greater than you or anyone else out there.